New Delhi: The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India Wednesday welcomed the move to defer tabling of the FCRA Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha, even as it said concerns remain because it was only postponed.
Briefing mediapersons after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced that the Bill would not be taken up Wednesday, Robinson Rodrigues, public relations officer of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), pointed out that they had written about the Bill to Union Home Minister Amit Shah as well as several MPs.
Welcoming the postponement, Rodrigues said, We have to keep in mind, it is postponed, it is not called back. So our struggle, our protest, remains. We thank all the MPs, the opposition MPs who have raised the issue and who have come out in our support.
We, also at the same time, thank the government. Yesterday, we sent our memorandum to Honourable Home Minister Shri Amit Shah ji and also all other MPs who supported us. The government today, they have postponed the Bill; they are not presenting it today, he said.
The CBCI spokesperson said this gives them some time to plan future strategy and called it a humanitarian issue.
Asked about reports that the Bill was postponed, considering the upcoming Kerala polls, he said, Our delegation will go and meet them. And as the government, I believe, and I hope they will listen to our concerns and take appropriate action.
He added that CBCI representatives will attempt to hold meetings with leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah and Rijiju, among others.